


The Silver Apples of the Moon, the Golden Apples of the Sun

by MercurialMagpie



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Magical Accidents, Near Death Experiences, Team as Family, hit with a curse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27326296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercurialMagpie/pseuds/MercurialMagpie
Summary: Tony doesn't even really believe in magic, so why is he the one hit with this curse?
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Kudos: 62
Collections: Stuckony server spooky bingo





	The Silver Apples of the Moon, the Golden Apples of the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Stuckony server's Halloween bingo, for the square Magical Trap. (originally for the square Cursed Object, but someone else got there first) Thanks to that server's mods for organizing and curating the bingo!  
> Not betaed. I never have a beta.

“Tony, no!” But Steve was already too late. The electronic panel Tony had been kneeling in front of (without the armor, dammit!) went from sparking and spitting to full-on exploding, sending Tony flying across the room. He smacked shoulder-first against a statue of a person, but instead of continuing his fall to the ground, Tony was caught as the statue’s arms wrapped around him in a parody of a hug. A moment later, the statue went back to its original position, and Tony dropped onto his (perfectly round, wonderfully bouncy- _focus, Rogers!_ ) backside, then hopped to his feet with a manic grin.

“Tony, yes! And that should take out their whole power grid. C’mon, Cap, what’re you doing standing here? We got minions to mash!” He got back into the Iron Man armor and waded back into the fray, and Steve could only sigh fondly as he joined him, the odd statue all but forgotten.

~A~A~

Bruce realized he was scowling at the chemical-formula-filled notebooks they had retrieved in yesterday’s raid. Some of these notations were symbols he had never seen used in math or chemistry before, and at least a few equations seemed to introduce energy sources he couldn’t identify. All in all, the whole thing had him more frustrated than was safe for the lab, or indeed the building.

Fortunately, distraction came quickly, in the form of Tony storming into the room. “OK, so I’m pretty sure there’s something freaky going on here, but maybe I’m just hallucinating, which, call me crazy, but that might actually be better-” He was dressed only in a t-shirt and flannel pants, his hair wild, suggesting he had actually slept in a bed, and had just now woken up.

Bruce took a couple of steps closer, keeping his voice low and soothing. “I’m sure we can figure it out. Can you be more specific than ‘freaky’?”

“This!” Tony stuck his foot out toward Bruce and waved it around. “This is me trying to wiggle my toes, by the way, which you may note is not happening. None of my toes will move, Bruce!” He wobbled and grabbed for a lab table to steady himself.

Bruce sighed. “OK, why don’t you start by sitting down before you fall over? Have you gotten scanned by JARVIS?” He pushed Tony toward a stool.

JARVIS apparently could answer for himself. “Sir’s scans are perfectly normal, except that his bio-signs end at the tarsals, and I have no current data on the metatarsals or their accompanying flesh. I do however have indicators that Sir is transporting ten small pieces of carbonate crystals, most likely marble.”

Tony pouted (though Bruce suspected it covered some fairly strong emotions). “See? Freaky!”

~A~A~

Bruce couldn’t explain it any better than Tony or JARVIS could, and in the end they had to call Dr Strange for a medical-magical consultation. He arrived, in his usual showy way, through a portal, directly into the Avengers’ living room, startling the team.

Everyone jumped to their feet, variously shouting and/or grabbing weapons, but Tony held out his hands soothingly. “Hey, it’s ok, I asked him here. I need his help with something. Hey, facial hair bro.”

Stephen sighed. “Hello, Mr Stark. Now will you explain what’s wrong? I assume it’s to do with the rather noxious magical aura around you?”

“I- really? Uh, yeah, I guess.” Tony blinked at the idea of a visible aura, but forced himself to push on. “Well, so far, it seems to have turned my toes into marble. Weird but livable, but I have this sneaking suspicion it won’t stop there.” He flopped back onto an armchair, and stuck his feet up in the air for all to see.

Clint, Steve, and Thor all exclaimed and crowded close, but Strange stayed back, wiggling his fingers in arcane (Tony assumed) gestures. Tony raised an eyebrow at him, and his drew together in response. Well, that wasn’t good. Strange nodded ponderously. “I’m sad to say, it’s definitely a curse, and very likely to get worse. Nothing is jumping out at me here regarding ways to remove it, unfortunately. I’ll have to research it further. Where did you say you acquired it?”

Tony scowled and thumped his feet to the floor. “There’s really only one thing that makes sense, and that’s that statue I whanged into yesterday, when I made that mainframe explode. I was kinda too busy to think about it then, but didn’t the stupid thing move for a second?”

Steve nodded earnestly. “I noticed that too. I wouldn’t have thought of it again, but you’re right, it’s gotta be that! Maybe if we smash the statue?”

Stephen shook his head. “Unlikely, but yet on the list of possibilities I will investigate. Stark, I will contact you as soon as I may.” He waved his arms again, making a portal, and disappeared through it.

Clint pulled Tony upright and into a group hug. “We’ll figure this out, Tin Man. We’re not letting you go that easy!” The others, even Natasha, chimed in in agreement, and for a moment, Tony was in danger of feeling actual feelings.

He covered it up with an exaggerated sigh. “I tell ya one thing, though. I really, seriously, _hate_ magic!”

~A~A~

The next morning, Dr Strange did Tony the courtesy of calling before just showing up, and so he had the chance to commandeer an empty SI conference room so the two of them could have some privacy. He still couldn’t help fidgeting while the sorcerer made bizarre and complex gestures in the air between them. “So? You know all the magic, right? You’re taking it off now, right?” 

Strange lowered his hands and opened his eyes, and Tony gave him a hopeful smile. Stephen shook his head sadly. “This curse has taken hold of you. There is nothing I can do for you, I’m sorry. But...” He frowned, looking annoyingly wizardly.

Tony leaned forward. “But?”

Stephen sighed. “There is one last possibility. But the chances are so slim...”

Tony huffed impatiently. “I don’t care if they’re wafer thin. Long shots is what I do. Spill!”

Strange shrugged. “What is the solution to all such curses? True love’s kiss. But you are not a man known for giving his heart away.”

Tony let out a bitter laugh, knowing that he had given his heart away a long time ago, to someone who was just a poster on the wall back then. “Yeah. Ironic, that. Well, thanks for all the help you haven’t been, Doc. I’ll make sure to leave you something in my will.” He did his best impression of storming out of the conference room, which was more pathetic and stompy, considering the whole “turning to stone” thing had made it most of the way up his calves by now. At this rate, his knees wouldn’t bend by dinnertime. The ride up to the Avengers’ private floors was silent, JARVIS wisely not trying to give him false hope.

When the elevator opened on the communal living room, the whole team jumped to their feet, and Steve took a step toward him. “Tony?”

He shook his head. “It’s definitely a curse, but even Mr Dr Sorcerer Supreme can’t do anything about it. Time to start talking about where you’re going to display statue-me.”

~A~A~

Ironically, days 3 through 5 were kind of awesome. He’d woken up without the urge to pee, since his bladder had apparently turned to marble overnight, and he spent a blissful few days with less and less of a need to eat, or really even sleep. The unfortunate trade-off to that, of course, being that his every waking hour was spent preparing for what came next. There was also the imponderable mystery of why the arc reactor hadn’t changed, even as the stonework inched up over it.

This was still better than the last time he was dying, though, so there was that. Steve had carried him out to the communal living room, and the team had stuck around him nearly the entire time, napping on the couches instead of sleeping on their own floors. He’d blasted through all the annoying legal paperwork, updating his will and all that bullshit (including leaving a single Iron Man promotional poster to _Mister_ Stephen Strange), then spent most of the rest of the time making notes. Innovations for Pepper to patent, potential upgrades and equipment prototypes for the Avengers, even spaceship engines and other madness, he let his perpetually-busy mind overflow onto the tablet that felt increasingly like a lifeline.

Because he knew, if he stopped for more than two seconds, his mind would tumble into a morass of sorrow and regret, a catalog of all the reasons he had these days to stay. He wouldn’t admit it aloud, even now, but he loved these people fiercely, and he had had plans, dammit! Science to do with Bruce, a million questions to ask Thor, pranks with Clint, being catty at galas with Natasha… The many, many, dirty, naughty things he wanted to do with Steve… (Yeah, alright, America’s Golden Boy was as straight as one of Clint’s arrows, and wouldn’t be interested in someone as blood-soaked as Tony even if he wasn’t, but a former Merchant of Death could dream, couldn’t he?)

On the other hand, day six sucked. He had spent most of it with one eye watching in morbid fascination as the creamy white marble crept, millimeter by millimeter, down his olive arms. Of course, the other eye had been on his team, mentally filing away all their quirks, their mannerisms and turns of phrase. Irrational as it seemed, he wanted to imprint all of this on his memory, burn it into his very self as if someone might read it, etched into his core, someday far in the future. (Oh, great, and now he was getting poetic. See what dying can do to an otherwise sane person?) Everyone else seemed to be watching his arms, too, little sidelong glances and pauses that were just a touch too long. Tony wanted to hate it, but couldn’t quite bring himself to.

Day seven, coming up on 168 hours since Tony had crashed into that damn statue- in retrospect clearly some sort of trap- and his fingers barely moved. He could almost swear he felt it creeping up the back of his scalp; the really sadistic part of this curse seemed to be that his brain would be active until the very last. (The horrible idea was looming that maybe his brain would remain active even after everything else calcified, that he would be conscious but unable to interact with anyone, forever and ever. Or at least until his statue-self was smashed.) The team, plus Rhodey and Pepper, were all hovering nearby, as if unsure if they should gather closer or give him his space. Fair, really; he didn’t know which he longed for either. The conversation was strained, and no one could meet anybody’s eyes, but they were there, for him.

Tony cleared his throat, resolutely not thinking about how he could speak at this point, and looked around at everyone. “I… I know this must be hard for all of you. Thank you for being here anyway. It’s-” He blinked hard, trying to stop the tears from spilling over. “It means a lot that you’ve all been here. I-” He gave a wet laugh. “Damn, I wanted to say I’ll miss you all, but I guess I don’t get that opportunity, do I? There’s probably all sorts of things I should apologize for-”

Pepper made a strangled sound. “No, Tony. You may have made some mistakes, everyone does, but you have done so much, for all of us, for the world… You have more than apologized, I promise. And I… Oh, God, I’m going to miss you so much!” She lurched forward, throwing her arms around his neck and pressing her cheek to his. “I swear this company will always do you proud.” She pulled herself back and turned away, wiping at her eyes.

Rhodey was next to wrap arms around him, pulling away with a kiss to Tony’s forehead and a ruffle of his hair. “At least we get to say good-bye properly this time. Dammit, Tones!” He was weeping openly as he stepped back, and Tony found tears falling from his own eyes too. The Avengers each took their turn, farewelling him with words and gestures, making his no-longer-extant heart swell with feeling for them all.

Steve went last, but instead of hugging Tony, he sat down heavily on the couch next to him and gazed into his eyes. “Tony, you have always been the best thing about coming to the future. I have had a lot of regrets in my life, and I don’t want this to be one of them. If this is my last chance… Tony, can I kiss you? Please?”

Tony gaped at him for a moment, then nodded as much as his stiffening neck would allow. “Yes! Hell yeah!” Steve leaned forward, starting with a chaste, soft, closed-lipped kiss, that slowly but steadily built some serious heat. By the time he pulled back, Tony’s head was swimming. “Holy crap, Cap, that kiss was totally toe-curling. Wait, Holy Shit, I can curl my toes! The curse is broken!” He jumped to his feet, arms over his head in a victory pose, and was immediately swarmed by all of his favorite people, all of them cheering and laughing. There were various cries of ‘what?’ and ‘how?’, and Tony grinned as he met Steve’s eye. “It was easy! All I needed was for Prince Charming over there to give me True Love’s Kiss.”


End file.
